Like Wings? Jacksonville

Saturday, Oct. 1 is going to be a busy day in Jacksonville with the community’s annual Wing Ding Festival and the 39th Annual Central Arkansas Gem & Mineral Show both taking place. Wing Ding provides a family environment with food, entertainment, and paddle boat rides. Highlights of the event are the chicken wing eating contest and the annual chicken wing cook-off. During the 2010 contestants consumed over 100 lbs. of chicken wings in less than 30 minutes combined between three rounds. Don’t forget there is a people’s choice award voted on by attendees to the cooking contest.

In Cash’s Corner there are games, inflatables, and surprises for kids of all ages. For the adults there are vendors with items such as homemade crafts, candles, purses and maybe even a baseball card or two. Winners of the Jacksonville Cityfest and the Miss Jacksonville Pageants will be announced. Food available in addition to the chicken includes turkey legs, barbecue nachos, corn dogs and funnel cakes. All activities take place at Dupree Park on Redmond Road. Admission is free. Visit www.Jacksonville-Arkansas.com or call 501-982-1511 for more details. The gem and mineral show begins on Saturday and runs through Sunday, Oct. 2 at the Jacksonville Community Center. Over 20 dealers of minerals and gems showcase their items, in addition to jewelry and beads. There will be a kid’s dig, geode cracking, a rock spin, mineral identification, and lapidary demonstrations. Door prizes will be awarded with a grand prize of a large orthoceras plate from Morocco. The center is located at 5 Municipal Drive. Admission is free. Visit centralarrockhound.org or phone 970-255-3679 for more information.

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